IC CONTACT

[gemigod]

VOICE | ACTION | LETTERS

Steven lives in Helian's Glade and can usually be found somewhere in the gardens. Letters can be left on his bed, which is made of moss and several supernaturally large blooms, or the drawer filled stump where he keeps his belongings. He is responsive to network communications but prefers not to speak one on one over them.

Comments

[gemigod]

Yeah, I... didn't want to risk losing it.

[As if he could, on the jog over here, but he was too anxious to wait.]

I don't know yet! I... tried running to see if it felt different, but right now I just feel kind of crampy.

[hippocarnival]

... Try picking me up? [He's pretty sure he's normal human weight and that's more viable than uprooting the tree to something.] See if it's easier for you now.

[gemigod]

Oh! Um...

[Steven takes a step forward, gingerly. He pauses a moment, feeling suddenly fatigued, and increasingly light-headed. He tries to shake it off. He moves the rest of the way towards Yuya, his muscles creaking as he does. Something burns in his belly, almost like his gem has grown hot.]

Sure. Let me... just...

[He reaches forward, trying to scoop Yuya up into a bridal carry - but he can't quite make it there. Instead, a sharp pain shoots through his lower back, all the way up to his shoulders. His arms burn at the joints, and he loses hold of Yuya almost as soon as he tried to bear his weight.]

Auhh...!

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya, as expected, proceeds to just hit the ground. He's a little dazed for a moment, until he looks up and sees Steven in pain.]

What's wrong?! [It's scrambling to his feet round two, in case he needs to support Steven.]

[gemigod]

[He does, as it turns out. Almost as soon as Steven has dropped him, he's f falling forward, practically on top of him. Steven's gems are glowing hotly, cracks of pink light working their way across his torso.

He manages a clipped sound, like a stifled scream, in between deep gasps for air. His hands clutch his belly, the point of his gem burning in his gut.]

[hippocarnival]

Oof--[All right, back down and a little winded as Steven just collapses on him. He's hurting a lot, isn't he? Even normally that shouldn't have been a problem, so what happened? Was it the wrong potion? Did Helian kill him for the audacity to ask for anything?!]

Steven--[Yuya wheezes slightly, pressing healing hands against his back.] Please, say something!

[gemigod]

Hurts. Ah.

[Tears are starting to roll down his cheeks, the cracks continuing to spread. He can feel the warmth of Yuya's energy pouring into him, but it doesn't seem to be working. He's collapsed into Yuya's arms now, his body a petrified mass of straining muscles.]

I don't know wh - why?

[hippocarnival]

It's okay. [They're stuck down here for the foreseeable future, but sure, it's okay!!] Where? I'll help.

[gemigod]

All... All over. I - I can't...

[He whimpers loudly, a jolt going through his body. Steven's gem is burning brightly enough that Yuya may feel it against him, hot like pavement in harsh summer sun. He makes a truncated movement, like he's trying to stand, but the pain is too much.]

[hippocarnival]

[Oh, yeah, that's getting uncomfortable, but Yuya bites his tongue and bears it... hopefully it won't actually leave a burn on his stomach.]

Okay, okay. [Yuya shifts his hands to line up with Steven's spine, as if starting there might help. The spine is... central, he thinks, maybe he can still remember that from classes in a life he had before. He's also just guessing.]

It's okay, I'm right here. Breathe. [And he'll use every drop of energy he has to heal Steven if he has to.]

[gemigod]

[The healing energy must help, in the long run, but it's hard to quantify how much. It doesn't necessarily feel like physical damage that can be repaired with guidance. Instead, it's as if something painfully changing, deepening at the same pace that the fissures of light form across his body.

With his arms rigidly crumpled over his chest and belly, Steven has little he can do besides gulp in ragged breaths and Yuya wraps himself around him. He feels like he going to pass out.]

My... My gem...

[His voice is faint.]

[hippocarnival]

It's--warm. [Hot. Is that where this is coming from--what hurts?

Yuya squirms, trying to push his weight up to try and roll them over. It's... not going very far, especially when Steven is too frozen to help. He might get it in a while.]

[gemigod]

[Whether Yuya manages to roll them over first or not, eventually the glowing cracks will spread so completely that they cloak his entire body in an aura of light. Soon after that, Steven falls limp, every part of his body continuing to glow pink, despite his unconsciousness.

The heat in his gem parts lingers, but to a lesser degree. They're like an overclocked computer, warming faster than they can cool.]

[hippocarnival]

[Steven's pink glowing everywhere distracts his attempts, and he watches a little warily. How terrible, he has no idea what's going on and no idea how to help.

By the time Steven wakes up, Yuya will at least have managed to flip them over. He's on his knees, one hand holding Steven's firmly while the other rests over his gem as he tries to pour healing light into it. He looks exhausted, and isn't sure it's even helping. But he does it anyway. in the very slight chance that it does.]

[gemigod]

[Gradually, the pink glow will begin to fade a bit. Steven is sweating as if feverish, occasionally squirming in discomfort but never quite waking up.

Until, finally, he does. His eyes crack open, a frail sigh escaping between dry lips.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya lets out a sigh of relief when Steven finally rouses that much, his shoulders sinking.] Steven...? How are you?

[gemigod]

[It takes a few moments, but eventually his eyes will settle on Yuya's face. He starts to remember where he actually is, and what he was just doing. His body is still aching, but perhaps not as badly as it could have been without Yuya repairing the damage the overload caused as it happened.]

My stomach hurts.

[He mumbles it own, fumbling to lay his hand over his gem, and tangling with Yuya's fingers as he does. The gem is just ambiently warm, at this point.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya smiles faintly, the healing from his fingertips long since flickering and finally subsiding as Steven touches his hand. He's so tired.]

Sorry. [He mumbles. That he couldn't do more, or that Helian did this to begin with? Both, probably.]

[gemigod]

[He slowly shifts his body around, feeling out how bad his muscles feel. It could definitely be worse. It's a little bit like how he'd feel back in the day, after a harsh workout. It's hard to tell anything more than that.]

Why am I... glowing...?

[He's still luminating from head to toe. In recent times, it's only been his actual gems that do that.]

[hippocarnival]

I was kind of hoping you knew? [He squeezes Steven's hand.] I guess... it's from that potion your drank? I don't know.

[gemigod]

It was... supposed to bring back my strength.

[He flexes one of his arms, wonderingly. Maybe he feels stronger? It's hard to tell when he feels so ginger, still.]

I only... I glowed like this once. It's weird.

[hippocarnival]

Your gem has to do with your strength... right? [He hopes it's just a side effect of it working.

Yuya leans over, to lay on the ground on his side next to Steven. Trying to sit up is just a lot of effort when he's poured everything into continual healing.] Does it hurt?

[gemigod]

It's... getting better.

[He exhales slowly. The pain was so extreme at first, the ache he feels now is nothing in comparison.]

Maybe... this is just the way the potion works. Maybe it had to do something to my gem. It's a part of my body... y'know?

It makes... light.

[He looks up at that sky, thinking about his gem, and the way it ties into his identity. He's wondered for a long time if that part of him was even there, anymore. It'd have to be, wouldn't it?

Did the potion just wake it up?]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya nods slowly.] I hope it gives you what you wanted.

[At least then, he could say maybe that the trade off was worth it. It wasn't just being in a ton of pain.]

[gemigod]

Me too.

[His face falls a bit further, darker thoughts clouding in. Will this be the change that fixes things? If he had claim back a small part of who he was, is that enough?]

I... worked so hard. To have things like they were.

[He feels his eyes misting up.]

And it just took all of it away from me.